Page 25

Delaney

I gasp and suddenly spin around to squeeze the trigger. I scream when Sergei drops to his knees with wide eyes as he looks down at his chest. The blood rushes out and quickly stains his white shirt before he falls to his side.

“I’m sorry,” I say tearfully as I pull his head into my lap. “I’m so sorry. I had to. I’m sorry.”

Sergei fades so fast that he doesn’t have the chance to respond before he sighs and never draws in another breath. I fall hysterical and all the pain and suffering he has put me through surfaces. I scream when arms scoop me up but I don’t fight it. I just curl into Talon’s chest as he slides down the wall and holds me close. His chest racks with sobs and I can feel his pain as much as he can feel mine. I am so goddamn torn. I am so happy to be back in his arms but sadness consumes me as Sergei lies on the basement floor dead.

“Laney,” Jude says as he cups my face. “Baby, I need you to talk for just a second, okay? We need keys. We need to drive back to a pick up location, and we don’t have a lot of time.”

“Can I grab something?” I sniff.

“Yeah,” he says. “Just hurry.”

“Okay,” I say. “Come with me.”

Jude helps me up and they all follow me upstairs. I take us up to the room I shared with Sergei and find my notebook. “Is this it, Laney?” Talon asks, cupping my cheek. “There is no wrong answer here, baby.”

“I just want to go before I change my mind,” I say simply. He nods and scoops me up again, communicating that changing my mind isn’t an option. “Keys are on the hook by the door.”

We rush downstairs and cold air blasts me in the face, but they don’t stop. Talon gets us into the back seat as the man I don’t recognize drives. I am sitting on Talon’s lap with my legs over Jude’s. Adam leans forward and throws blankets that he grabbed from the house over me, and I automatically snuggle against Talon. His scent is more comforting than I remember, even with the pain of losing Sergei.

“I’m sorry,” I say after a while.

“You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, Delaney,” Talon says, lifting my chin. “We were content to let you decide. We weren’t going to try to force you into anything.”

“I feel crazy,” I say. “I think I am crazy.”

“You are traumatized, Little Flower. You are running on a high right now and things will get much worse before they get better. We have a lot of undoing to do.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“He’s spent the last six months breaking you down, Laney. You got used to the treatment and now you’ll have to learn how to live without being hurt all over again,” he says.

“Talon,” Jude says firmly.

“Fuck. I know,” Talon sighs. “Listen, Delaney… I need to tell you something and I think it’s best I just rip the bandage off now.”

“Okay?” I say as I sit up.

“I had sex with Ashley,” he says cautiously. When I don’t speak, he continues. “I wasn’t doing well… at all. I was drowning my grief with whiskey, and I got wrapped up in my emotions. We were both drinking and she wanted to help get me out of my head without drinking more, and I just wanted to force myself to accept you were gone.”

“Did it?” I ask.

“What?” he asks.

“Did it help you move on?” I ask.

“The literal opposite actually,” I say.

“Meaning?” I ask.

“He sobbed,” Ashley says quietly. “It was a mistake, and it broke him.”

“She was in bed with me still when Jude woke me to show the video that Sergei sent,” Talon explains.

“Who slept in my spot?” I ask.

“I did. Why?” he asks, confused.

“Are you wanting me to be mad?” I ask.

“I… Don’t know,” he says honestly. “Jude said it would be better to tell you right away then to wait.”

“Do you love her?” I ask.

“No,” he says firmly.

“Would you do it again?” I ask.

“Absolutely not,” he says.

“Would you, Ashley?” I ask.

“No,” she says. “I’m sorry, Delaney. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of him.”

“Look,” I sigh. “Don’t stick your dick in anyone other than me again and we’ll be okay. Right now, I miss Sergei. Okay? I was falling for him, and I don’t even know how. I could see myself falling, but I had no way of stopping it. I feel like I’ve lost my partner, so the fact that you found comfort is the least of my problems. Really, you did nothing that I didn’t do. I was an active participant for the last few months, and I forced myself to break for him just to find some semblance of peace. I stopped fighting and did what he wanted me to do for the sake of not getting hurt… Sergei is an evil man. Was, I guess.”

“You have a lot of scars,” Talon says.

“Yeah. He whipped me with a metal wire a few times,” I say. “He’s tortured me for the last six months. It’s dumb as fuck that I can see that but I can’t make myself not miss him. I feel like none of this is real right now.”

“What can we do?” Talon asks.

“Honestly?” I ask, and he nods. “I want you to break me.”

“Delaney…” he starts to say.

“All I know is abuse, so I need you to break me.”

“Baby, I’m not going to hurt you,” he says softly.

“I need you to break me, Talon. Remind me who I belong to because right now, I don’t know. I miss him and I know I shouldn’t. I want to hate you because you took him from me, but I can remember how happy you made me. I’m not asking you to beat me or anything. Cover the tattoo he put on me and fuck me until I remember who I belong to. It’s all I know and it’s the only way I can see my way out of this feeling.”

“Are you sure?” Jude asks.

“Yes,” I say. “All of you… I want all of you to break me. Do whatever you want. Give me whatever rules you want and punish me when I do badly.”

“She’s asking for structure,” the man in the front says.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“Ned,” Talon says. “He’s a detective. He’s been working your case and helped get us here.”

“Oh… Well, Ned is right,” I say. “I can’t go back to the way things were. Not right now, at least. I’ll go crazy.”

“Okay,” Talon says after a moment. “You refer to us as Sir or Daddy. If you want to do something, you ask permission. You always stay with one of us, no matter what. We pick your clothing, food, and everything in between. As time goes on, we will give freedom back to you… Is that good?”

“Yes,” I say with a smile. Structure makes me feel less panicked, and I welcome the peace.

“Fuck, I’ve missed you,” he says. He grabs my face and kisses me hard. It’s like muscle memory, and I melt into him immediately.

“I wrote to you,” I say as I pull back. “Sergei was reading it I think, but I wrote to you every day almost but stopped a few weeks ago. I want you to read it.”

“Why?” he asks.

“Because it can tell you way more of what I went through than I can,” I say. “I don’t know how long I can keep this up… this… calmness.”

“It’s the calm before the storm, so to speak,” Talon says. “We will get you home, pamper you forcefully. When you are ready, we are finding Grim.”

“And Sam?” I ask.

“Who is that?” Jude asks.

“Fang’s brother. He is the one who grabbed me. He raped me first before passing me around to five other men in that van,” I say.

“Anyone who touched my wife will fucking die,” Talon says with a promise in his tone. “No one will survive me.” I nod and lay my head on his chest.